Learmonth base activated for MH370 search

Vital co-ordination duties in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 have been switched to a base more than 1200 kilometres north of Perth to accommodate two state-of-the-art tracking aircraft.

Defence has activated RAAF's Learmonth facility near Exmouth as a command base specifically to accommodate the Wedgetail E-7A planes, which can maintain air and surface surveillance over hundreds of thousands of square kilometres.

The aircraft allow authorities to track the movements of each of the planes and ships involved in the massive search effort simultaneously.

The operation to locate MH370 recently shifted from the southern Indian Ocean to an area more than 2000 kilometres northwest of Perth.

Learmonth is almost 1300km north of the West Australian capital and much closer to the search zone.

The unit set up to co-ordinate the search said on Wednesday night Learmonth had been activated after acoustic signals believed to have been emitted from the missing flight's black box were re-detected.

The base is usually kept in a "ready" state requiring some minor activity to make it operational, the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) said.

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An air force team has been sent to Learmonth to support the Wedgetail planes, JACC told AAP.

The efforts of the E-7A crews - each staffed with 14 people - have dazzled even seasoned defence force members, effectively acting as flying air traffic controllers to the entire search effort and communicating information directly back to base.

The aircraft are new to the Australian Defence Force and it's understood the MH370 search represents their first major operation on our shores.

According to the ADF, they can survey a surface area of 400,000 square kilometres and cover over 4 million square kilometres during a 10-hour mission.

"By operating from Learmonth, the E-7A aircraft will be able to sustain air space coordination for extended periods over the search areas, a JACC spokeswoman said.

On Wednesday, 15 planes and 14 vessels scoured the seas for signs of MH370, which disappeared from radars 33 days ago with 239 people on board.

Most search planes are being deployed from RAAF base Pearce, 35km to Perth's north, but some, including the Chinese Ilysushin Il-76s, are operating from Perth Airport.